Merchant du Vin exists because Charles Finkel — alongside his late wife, Rose Ann — trusted American drinkers with something deeper. Founded in 1978, long before imported beer was fashionable or even widely understood, Merchant du Vin became a quiet act of cultural translation, carrying centuries-old European brewing traditions across the Atlantic with care, patience, and conviction. Charles may have been the public evangelist, but Rose Ann was the backbone and co-architect of the vision, shaping relationships, logistics, and trust with the same steady hand that defined the company’s soul. Together, they believed that beer could be more than refreshment — that it could carry history, place, and meaning — and they built an importer that proved it, bottle by bottle, monastery by monastery. Nearly five decades later, we’re still drinking the ripple effects of that shared faith.
Today’s flight is a thank-you note written in liquid, a welcome mat rolled out for Merchant du Vin’s Regional Sales Manager, Aaron Cohn, as he joins the Grit & Grain Podcast recording at Peaks & Pints at 4:30 p.m. — a nod to a career spent shepherding some of the world’s most important beers across oceans and into glasses.
This Merchant du Vin flight isn’t about nostalgia; it’s about continuity. These are beers that shaped palates, rewired expectations, and continue to matter precisely because they refuse to chase trends. Wild fermentation, monastery balance, German precision, and Belgian depth — each pour carries decades, sometimes centuries, of accumulated wisdom. Drink them slowly. Let them speak. This is what happens when beer grows up and stays interesting.
Peaks & Pints Merchant du Vin Flight
Lindemans Cuvée René Oude Gueuze 2022
6.5% ABV | Oude Lambic Blend | Vlezenbeek, Belgium
Patience poured into a glass. Dry, vinous, and oak-kissed, this blended lambic leans into lemon zest, cellar funk, and a firm, cleansing acidity that feels closer to wine than fruit beer. Cuvée René is Lindeman’s long-game philosophy made tangible, a beer built on blending, restraint, and trust in time to do the heavy lifting.
Orval Trappist Ale
6.2% ABV | Trappist Pale Ale | Orval, Belgium
The beautiful misfit, dry and restless, with a bitter snap and a Brett-driven hum that keeps evolving long after the pour. Lemon peel, herbal bite, and earthy funk weave together in a way that feels alive rather than finished, a beer that refuses to sit still. Orval remains one of Merchant du Vin’s most influential imports, a reminder that beer can be challenging, elegant, and endlessly rewarding all at once.
Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock
6.7% ABV | Doppelbock | Aying, Germany
This is malt with cathedral acoustics — dark bread crust, toffee richness, and a gentle warmth that resonates rather than presses. Silky and composed, Celebrator proves that strength doesn’t need excess to feel profound. Ayinger’s mastery of balance makes this beer feel timeless, the kind of import that quietly teaches you how good beer can be when nothing is rushed.
Westmalle Dubbel
7.0% ABV | Trappist Dubbel | Westmalle, Belgium
The blueprint still holds. Dark fruit, toasted sugar, and a steady, contemplative calm move through the glass with quiet authority. Nothing flashy, nothing wasted — just balance perfected over generations. Westmalle Dubbel doesn’t explain itself; it demonstrates, showing how strength and elegance can coexist without drama.
Rochefort 10
11.3% ABV | Trappist Quadrupel | Rochefort, Belgium
The sit-down-and-listen closer. Dense with fig, date, caramelized depth, and warming alcohol, this beer unfolds slowly, rewarding attention and patience. Trappistes Rochefort‘s Rochefort 10 feels like a conversation worth having at the end of the night, rich, thoughtful, and unapologetically deep — the perfect final word in a flight built on beers that still matter.
LINK: Peaks & Pints beer and cider cooler inventory
